How to prepare meat

Chicken

Chicken thigh meat - removing excess fat
Chicken thigh meat - removing sinew
Chicken thigh meat - poking holes with a fork
Chicken tenders - removing sinew
Chicken meat - how to butterfly
Chicken wings - separating the middle wing / wingette
Chicken breast - slicing into thin diagonal cuts / sogi-giri

Chicken thigh meat - removing excess fat

Use a knife to cut away yellow fat and excess skin.

Chicken thigh meat - removing sinew

Thigh meat sinew is tough and should be removed beforehand. Make a shallow 1 to 2 cm (0.4 to 0.8 in.) wide cut at a right angle into the sinew. Remove the sinew first when preparing bite-sized pieces.

Chicken thigh meat - poking holes with a fork

Skin shrinks when cooked. Use a fork to poke holes in the skin to prevent shrinkage and to further permeate the flavors of seasonings.

Chicken tenders - removing sinew

Chicken tenders contain a sinew. Lay the tender down flat and rock a knife back and forth along the sinew to remove. Nowadays sinew-removed chicken tenders are widely available.

Chicken meat - how to butterfly

Slice halfway into the center

This is a method for achieving uniform thickness by using a knife to slice open the meat from the center to fold outwards on each side. It allows for the meat to be thoroughly cooked through in less time. Place the chicken meat lengthwise. Use a knife placed along the center line to slice halfway into the thickness.

Lay the knife flat

Within the initial slice, lay the knife flat in order to slice open from both the left and right sides to achieve uniform thickness. This process is made easier if right-handed cooks begin by slicing towards the left, and left-handed cooks begin by slicing towards the right. Then turn the meat end-to-end and repeat this process (slice to the left for right-handed cooks, slice to the right for left-handed cooks).